A month after Queensland’s parliament passed a law banning plastic bags, Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday announced plans to ban single-use plastic shopping bags in Victoria.

Revealing the news on Channel Ten’s The Project last night, Premier Andrews said: “Victoria will ban single-use plastic bags, we know this is really important for the environment, particularly for our waterways, for landfill, for waste management. We are going to get this done as quickly as we can.”

Andrews challenged New South Wales – the only state yet to announce a ban on single-use plastic bags – to act on the issue.

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“Hopefully (NSW Premier) Gladys Berejiklian will be convinced to do what New South Wales does so well – follow Victoria’s lead.”

But Victoria isn’t exactly leading the country on this issue. South Australia was the first state to introduce a ban, back in 2009. Tasmania followed in 2013, and Queensland’s ban begins on July 1, 2018. Western Australia has announced plans to do the same.

Woolworths and Coles have already announced they will be phasing out plastic shopping bags by June 30 next year. Sturdier bags will be available for purchase instead.

Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said in a statement: “We will work closely with Victorian communities and businesses to design the ban.”

A consultation period will run from today until January 25 next year. Feedback will be announced in March. The state government is running a survey on community opinion about the plastic bag ban.

The survey also asks what bags people would use as an alternative, and whether biodegradable bags should also be banned.

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